The Duke's Curse (Legend Book 2)

by Kylie Stewart

  “How do you know?” Lancer took my hand in his. I didn’t fight him.

  “He wants to be king of the world.” My mouth was dry. “He has an A.I. named Ren that basically lives in the wires at G.R.A.I.L.”

  “A what?” The confused look on Lancer’s face caused me to give an exasperated sigh.

  “He has a synthetically created human that is essentially an A.I. She speaks and responds. It’s very strange,” I explained.

  Lancer leaned over the front seat. “We shall have to tell Avalon this. M, what do you think it means?”

  M’s face was strained. He cleared his throat. “It means that this issue is bigger than we thought.”

  Nineteen

  Morgan

  Doing my best to continue on my day like a good little assistant, I was sorting papers on my desk when I heard a small buzzing sound.

  “Morgan.”

  I jumped, turning around to be face to face with Ren. Every room in G.R.A.I.L. had been installed with feed links so that she could pop up whenever she wanted. I rotated my chair toward her, faking a smile.

  “Ren, what a surprise.You don’t usually visit me.”

  “I don’t usually need to.” Ren crossed her arms, causing the hologram to shimmer.

  “What is it?” I dropped the sweet tone and came clean with the irritation in my voice.

  “Why did you give the girl Sinfonia?”

  My chest tightened, and I felt as though I were staring down the barrel of a gun.

  “How did you know? I used cloaking magic ...” She shouldn’t have been able to see me!

  “I see everything that goes on in G.R.A.I.L., don’t you remember?” Her voice grew harsh. “That is my job. Now, why did you give Alexandria York the sword?” She arched a brow.

  The image Mordred molded her after made me ill. Looking at someone who had once been a friend was a hard task.

  “You know why. I did it to save my brother.”

  Ren sighed, placing her hand on her forehead. “Of course. I should have seen this event coming.”

  “You may know everything, but that doesn’t make you omnipotent,” I hissed.

  “And you will do well to remember how you are still alive!”

  Wincing, I sat back. “Are you going to tell Mordred?”

  Ren looked me up and down, a thoughtful smile crossing her lips. “No. I am too eager to see the outcome of this fiasco.”

  “But you work for Mordred, he can destroy you ... in the end, you’re just a vulnerable as I am.” Panic surged in my chest.

  Ren surveyed my desk and then out the open window. A sorrowful expression was fleeting, but I saw it.

  “I suppose. You’ve kept my secret, Morgan. So I shall keep yours.” Her eyes narrowed on mine. “Mordred might command me, but he didn’t create me. There is only one man who can destroy me. You know that.”

  In a shimmer of silver and purple, she was gone.

  I exhaled, wondering why she would protect me. True, I knew her secret; an A.I. with her own emotions and agenda would be devastating to G.R.A.I.L. and Mordred.

  A crow landed outside my open window.

  Its disturbing head tilted at me and cawed.

  “Ugh, go away, beast.” I waved a folder at it, causing it to fly away. I stared at the stack of papers in front of me. I hoped to God this would work. It had to work.

  Twenty

  Avalon

  Just when I thought my patience would run out and I would have to go search for them myself, I heard the doors open and voices cut the silence. I had been waiting in one of the side rooms on the first floor. For the last hour, I had stared at the oil paintings that donned the walls. Needless to say, I had become rather bored with them.

  When I caught sight of her, my knees almost buckled.

  Thank God, she’s safe.

  I strode over to the small group of three. There were soon four with Vivian’s graceful arrival. She came floating down the stairs, a happy glow in her eyes.

  Alexandria handed her something small—a vial?

  Vivian reached down and hugged her, and my heart soared.

  She’s done it.

  I didn’t care if Lancer wanted to throw me onto a bed of spikes; I forced myself past his frame and held her. Her body immediately tensed as I clutched her tightly against my chest. The cheerful banter subsided as I stood there holding her.

  “Are you hurt?” My voice was strangely soft.

  “No, I’m fine.” Alexandria pulled back to look up at me. “Morgan gave it to me. M has to dispel it, and then Vivian has to bless it. Then it can be used on you.”

  I released her and turned to Lancer. We shared an understanding. Alexandria was our priority.

  I held out my hand. “Thank you, for watching over her. I know you’d do it anyway, but thank you all the same.”

  “No problem.” His hand was hard in mine. “I have a business meeting in the morning, and then I will be back. Don’t kick off just yet, old man.”

  I snorted. “Of course, not; it would be a shame if you missed it.”

  Alexandria looked horrified at our exchange, but I felt some of the tension in the air start to dissipate. If Lancer and I could joke, it meant he didn’t hate me as much as I thought he did.

  With a wink, he turned back to Alexandria. He whispered something in her ear, and then they embraced.

  I hid a scowl.

  Had something happened between them today?

  Vivian tapped my shoulder.

  “We should let M dispel this.” She held up the vial, and my heart pounded in my ears. I swore I heard an echoing heartbeat respond from the tiny glass tube. I nodded, reaching for my chest. It felt as though my heart was going to leap out of my ribcage.

  “Avalon, are you okay?” Alexandria was next to me in moments.

  I pushed Vivian’s hands away.

  “Let’s allow M to do what he needs to and be done with it for tonight.” I grimaced. “We can continue tomorrow.” The strange call from soul to soul didn’t stop even as I put distance between the sword’s power and myself.

  “I shall take that.” M gently took the vial and walked away. Alexandria’s eyes were curious as she watched the wiry man leave.

  “You may attend if you like.”

  Her blue eyes latched onto mine, torn. I motioned toward Vivian. “Go, take her to see it. I’m going to go rest.”

  “Of course.” Vivian steered Alexandria away from me. I patted my chest and trudged back up the stairs to my quarters.

  I stood in the quiet comfort of the place I’d called home for the last century. My eyes flickered over every detail that until that moment I had taken for granted. A pressing feeling overwhelmed me. I didn’t want to acknowledge the thought, but I had to.

  This could be my last night alive.

  What if I failed tomorrow? I wouldn’t just be failing myself, but Alexandria would be forced to live as I had—forever. I clenched my hands. I wanted to scream.

  Why did M overstep?

  Why did he have to contract her in blood?

  I ran fingers through my hair, and my eyes landed on the violin waiting on the couch. With a soft smile, I walked over and ran resin over the bow. Settling the delicate instrument under my chin, I pulled the bow across the strings. Closing my eyes, I let my fingers fly in familiar patterns as I played song after song to nothing but the night.

  At the end of a dwindling note, I opened my eyes. The gravity of tomorrow tore at me. I had lived for so long; death now came like an unwanted guest. A floorboard creaked outside my innermost sanctuary.

  “Come in if you want to; it’s not like I can stop you.” I let the violin gently fall from my shoulder and rested it on my knee.

  Alexandria poked her head in through the door. “Sorry, I couldn’t sleep, and I heard you playing again. You haven’t played in a while.”

  “No, I haven’t.” I didn’t want to remember the last time she had heard me playing. Her voice was soft. “You should rest. We have a long
day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  I watched her come closer. Her robe went all the way to the floor. Usually, my mind would imagine the possibilities under said robe, but tonight was different. Tonight, I wanted to remember what it felt like to live.

  “I could say the same to you,” I quipped, leaning back against the doorframe to the balcony. A warm, summer breeze flooded the open French doors.

  “Are you afraid?” She took a seat at the foot of my bed in the lounger.

  I kicked a foot up and rested all my weight on one leg. “I suppose I am a little. I’d be a liar if I said no.”

  Alexandria rested her chin on her hands.

  “Are you?”

  She didn’t respond. Instead, she looked up at me and asked, “Would you play something for me?”

  I wanted to be irritated. I wanted to force her to answer me, but no one had ever asked to play for them. Not in a very long while.

  “Sure, what shall I play?” I tucked the violin back under my chin.

  “‘Nearer My God to Thee.’”

  Her answer felt like a hit to the stomach.

  “Why that song?” She continually shocked me with things in reference to faith.

  Her shoulders shrugged. “My mother used to play it on the piano when I was little.”

  Warmth crept into my chest. Yet another thing I could give her that no one else could. I picked up the bow and started to play the familiar hymn. My fingers danced across the strings, pulling sorrowful notes from the instrument. I let the last note fade in the night air.

  When I finished, I looked down to see her wiping her eyes.

  No. No more tears caused by me.

  Pushing myself off the door, I set the violin on the dresser and went to her. I didn’t ask permission or warn her. I just scooped her up into my arms and held her.

  “Hush, now. There is nothing to cry over.” I stroked a hand over her hair. “Tomorrow will come and go, and we will go on with our lives.”

  “But what if it doesn’t?” Her arms were like an iron vice around my neck. “What if something goes wrong? What if you never wake up?”

  “It won’t, Alexandria. I promise.”

  “How can you promise something you have no control over?”

  Setting her down on the edge of my bed, I lowered myself to my knees before her. I took her small hand in mine and pressed my lips to her cool knuckles.

  “Because I trust I will make it. I am the once and future king, and I have promises I’ve not cashed in on yet.” I smiled. “Therefore, I do not fear.”

  “Promises from whom?” Her fingers laced with mine.

  I paused, inhaling deeply. She’d find me either a fool or crazy for this response.

  “God.”

  A carefully manicured eyebrow arched. “God? How can you say that after everything that’s happened to you?”

  That forced me to look down. She was right. I felt abandoned, yet with her by my side, I knew He hadn’t left at all. Everything fell into place. She was the answer to my prayers, and she had succeeded.

  “Do you want to know how I know?” I looked back up into questioning eyes. “Because every day I wake up knowing you are alive.” My throat began to close with emotion. “And you treat me like a human being. You see me, Alexandria. You see who I am; you take me for who I am.” I stood.

  I felt the rushing of desire through my veins stronger than it ever had been in the past. “You haven’t left me. Not even when I tried to chase you away, you stayed.” I spread my arms wide, gesturing. “I gave you so many reasons to leave. So many chances to disappoint me, I did that. You never once gave up. And today ...” My voice caught. “Today, you gave me something priceless. You gave me the hope that I might one day be whole, that my soul can be saved.”

  I watched her study me. She sat on my bed, in my room, at night. She looked at me with eyes as blue as clear summer skies, and skin the color of priceless porcelain. She didn’t even know how precious she was. A woman like her deserved to be showered with praises of her worth every damn day. I could give her that if only she would let me in.

  Her whisper was barely audible. “I don’t want regrets.”

  “What?” I took a step closer.

  With a trembling voice, she stuck out her chin in defiance. “I don’t want regrets.”

  “Then don’t.” My response was easier said than done.

  Silence fell over us until her laugh gave cause to regard her carefully. Had she gone mad? Was the pressure too great?

  “I’m fine. I just can’t believe this is all happening to me.” She rubbed her eyes. “First, I find out I’m the reincarnation of a queen. And not even a good, noble queen but an adulterer. A woman who had two lovers.” She ran her hand through her hair. “Then I get to swoop in like a mad woman into my mortal enemy’s own lair. I steal a vial, and you wouldn’t believe what happened when M dispelled it.” Her eyes grew wide. Her arms went above her head. “It turned into this glimmering sword. I watched magic happen.”

  Alexandria scrubbed a hand over her face. “And to make matters even worse, you and Lancer both told me to come back to you and guess what? I can’t choose! I can’t choose between either of you!”

  I went to her. She struggled in my grasp, but I held her firm.

  “You don’t have to, Alexandria. Look at me, look at me!” I cupped her face, forcing our eyes to meet. “When I look at you, I don’t see her. I see you. I see Alexandria York, a young, beautiful artist.”

  Damn it all to hell.

  “I see a beautiful woman who I would wait centuries for just to get the chance to be this close to. I see a fire in your soul that drives me crazy. I would kill for you, Alexandria, but I won’t do a bloody thing because I respect you. I want you happy, and if that is without me, then so be it!”

  A soft sob escaped her throat. I pressed our foreheads together and rubbed my nose against hers. I could taste her breath warm on my lips as I spoke softly this time.

  “I understand love now. It is being able to let what you desire most go in order to have a chance in the future.” I opened my eyes and found her staring into mine.

  Funny, how our eyes were born of the skies while Lancer’s would always ground her to the Earth.

  “I miss you.” Her tiny hands gripped the front of my shirt.

  “Miss me how, love?” I stroked fingers through her long hair. She was why I was still alive. She was my reason for being.

  Her cheeks flushed red. “When you used to meet me in my dreams.”

  “You didn’t know it was me until a month ago. And you looked downright pissed off that it was me.” I chuckled. “You said so yourself they were just dreams.”

  “They weren’t.” Her tone was angry.

  I sighed, agreeing with her. “No, they weren’t.”

  “I just don’t want to be her.”

  “You are not her. Trust me, I know who she is.” I smiled. “You, my lady, are far too good to even compare to her.” I allowed my hands to slip to her waist.

  “Promise?”

  “I swear.”

  Alexandria rested her head on my chest. I let my chin do the same on the top of her head.

  “Christ, woman, what you do to me ...”

  “You? I could say the same thing about you.”

  “Oh, really? Please enlighten me.” I snorted. “Because from where I stand, all I do is make you mad, offend you, or cause you to cry.”

  “You do that.” She paused. “I sometimes wish I never met you. That I could just go back to being normal.”

  Ouch, that hurt, but I let her continue in silence.

  “Yet because I know you, and everything we’ve been through, I can’t imagine life without you.”

  “That makes me very happy, Alexandria. I couldn’t go on without you either.”

  “I don’t want regrets.” She pushed away from me, placing distance between us. I watched helplessly as she paced.

  “Then don’t have any.”

  She scoffed.
“This would be so much easier if you would stop being a damn gentleman about it.”

  “What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?” Dumbfounded, I placed my hands on my hips and glowered at her.

  “It means the man I knew at first would just take what he wanted. He wouldn’t stand there contemplating.”

  A log was thrown onto my already blazing fire. I crossed the room and closed the space between us.

  “I am merely doing as I was asked. I’m not pushing you, and I’m not forcing you. Unless, Ms. York, that is what you ask of me now?” Lust lived in my blood, yearning to be set free. The chains holding back the beast were beginning to loosen. If she asked, I wouldn’t hold him back.

  “I want you to want me. I want you to go down with me if I go this route.” Her blue eyes snapped with desire.

  “You make it sound like having actual sex with me is a sin!”

  With a disgusted sound, she pushed against my chest again. I caught her elbows and forced her to stand still.

  “No. If we do this, we don’t fucking fight. You do this because you want me and nothing less.” I shook her slightly. “Because I have wanted you since the moment I met you in the forest. Don’t play with me, Alexandria.”

  I knew the passion I exuded. It radiated around the room, thick and cloying.

  “Why do you want me now? You’ve had all this time, and with the thought of me being gone, you’d risk it?” I searched her face. “Tell me what you feel. Tell me now or leave!”

  Alexandria’s hair framed her face in messy layers. Her eyes glistened with tears, and her face was flush with need. Her lips parted.

  “If I don’t do this, and if I lose you tomorrow ... I will never forgive myself.”

  “Why?” I begged her, needing to know. “If I succeed tomorrow and we do this, then you will have to live with the shame of knowing. How could you look at Lancer?”

  What the hell was I saying?

  Since when did I play for Lancer’s team? I groaned. I was being fair; I was playing her conscience while hers flew the coop.

  “I won’t regret it if you live. It’ll be our night, our memory.” She reached up to caress my face. Fingertips traced every line and detail, hovering over my scar. “Our moment ...”